Imaging systems, moving bodies, and imaging control methods for remote monitoring of a moving target

ABSTRACT

To provide a new framework that can flexibly take images of a moving target in remote monitoring without the need to arrange a plurality of network cameras, an autonomously movable moving body is used to take an image of a photographic target in accordance with a request from a user terminal, and the photographic image is provided to the user terminal. The moving body includes: a position estimating unit that acquires, from a wireless tag reader, a radio field intensity of wireless communication with a wireless tag held by the photographic target to estimate a position of the photographic target based on the acquired radio field intensity; a movement control unit that controls the movement of the moving body so that the moving body moves to the estimated position as a destination; and an imaging unit that takes an image of the photographic target when the moving body is located near the destination, associates the photographic image with a wireless tag ID designated by the request, and transmits the photographic image to an apparatus outside the moving body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/641,115, titled “IMAGING SYSTEMS, MOVING BODIES,AND IMAGING CONTROL METHODS FOR REMOTE MONITORING OF A MOVING TARGET”filed on Dec. 17, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,817,118, which claims thebenefit of Japanese Application No. 2009-167900 filed on Jul. 16, 2009,which are both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to an imaging system, a moving body, andan imaging control method.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, network cameras that can be controlled from remoteplaces through a communication network, such as the Internet, are inpractical use and becoming widely used. For example, an application thatuses a Web camera accessible from a WWW client to enable a user tocommunicate with other user visually or to monitor homes, offices,traffic conditions, etc., is in practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example of an application using a network camera includes a remotemonitoring system for checking the security from remote places by takingimages of children at kindergarten or school, senior citizens at a carefacility, and pets in an empty house by the network camera. As thechildren, senior citizens, and pets freely move, there is a problem inbuilding such a system that a multiplicity of network cameras need to bearranged to cover the movement ranges. Furthermore, to providephotographed images to a concerned party such as a relative, it isdesirable to take images of only a specific target for privacy reasons,etc. However, flexible photographing of images of a moving target isdifficult in a conventional, fixed network camera.

To solve the problems, it is desirable to provide a new framework thatcan flexibly take images of a moving target in remote monitoring withoutthe need to arrange a plurality of network cameras.

The present disclosure provides an imaging system comprising: amanagement server; and an autonomously movable moving body configured tobe able to communicate with the management server, the management servercomprising: a table storing a correspondence relationship between aphotographic target, a wireless tag ID of a wireless tag held by thephotographic target, and the moving body; an imaging instructing unitthat refers to the table when an imaging request designating thephotographic target is received from a user terminal to identify awireless tag ID and the moving body corresponding to the designatedphotographic target and to transmit an imaging instruction designatingthe identified wireless tag to the identified moving body; and an imageproviding unit that associates and stores the wireless tag ID and aphotographic image when the wireless tag ID and the photographic imageare received from the moving body and that refers to the table when animage acquisition request designating the photographic target isreceived from the user terminal to identify the wireless tag IDcorresponding to the designated photographic target, to read out theimage corresponding to the identified wireless tag ID, and to transmitthe image to the user terminal that has transmitted the imageacquisition request, the moving body comprising: at least one wirelesstag reader configured to be able to read a wireless tag ID from awireless tag through wireless communication; a position estimating unitthat acquires, from the wireless tag reader, a radio field intensity ofwireless communication with the wireless tag storing the wireless tag IDdesignated by the imaging instruction when the imaging instruction isreceived from the management server to estimate a position of thephotographic target based on the acquired radio field intensity; amovement control unit that controls the movement of the moving body sothat the moving body moves to the estimated position as a destination;and an imaging unit that takes an image of the photographic target whenthe moving body is located near the destination, associates thephotographic image with the wireless tag ID designated by the imaginginstruction, and transmits the photographic image and the wireless tagID to the management server.

The present disclosure provides an autonomously movable moving bodycomprising: a position estimating unit that acquires a radio fieldintensity of wireless communication with a wireless tag held by aphotographic target from a wireless target reader to estimate a positionof the photographic target based on the acquired radio field intensity;a movement control unit that controls the movement of the moving body tolocate the moving body within a certain distance from the estimatedposition; and an imaging unit that takes an image of the photographictarget when the moving body is located within the certain distance.

The moving body of the present disclosure can further comprise at leastone wireless tag reader.

The position estimating unit can acquire a signal of wirelesscommunication with the wireless tag held by the photographic target fromthe at least one wireless tag reader fixed outside the moving body.

The position estimating unit can estimate the position of thephotographic target based on a radio field intensity of wirelesscommunication with the wireless tag held by the photographic target.

The moving body of the present disclosure can further comprise animaging control unit that applies an image recognition process of thephotographic target to an image taken by the imaging unit to control theimaging direction based on an image recognition result.

The movement control unit can control the movement of the moving body sothat the acquired radio field intensity becomes smaller than apredetermined value when the moving body is located near thedestination.

The movement control unit can control the movement of the moving body sothat the moving body moves at random or in accordance with apredetermined route when the destination is not set.

The present disclosure provides an imaging system comprising: the movingbody of the present disclosure; and a management server configured to beable to communicate with the moving body, the management servercomprising an image providing unit that associates and stores a wirelesstag ID and a photographic image when the wireless tag ID and thephotographic image are received from the moving body and that, when animage acquisition request designating the photographic target isreceived from the user terminal, identifies the wireless tag IDcorresponding to the designated photographic target to read out theimage corresponding to the identified wireless tag ID, and to transmitthe image to the user terminal that has transmitted the imageacquisition request.

The present disclosure provides an imaging control method using anautonomously movable moving body including an imaging unit and amanagement server configured to be able to communicate with the movingbody, the imaging control method comprising: the management serverreferring to a table storing a correspondence relationship between aphotographic target, a wireless tag ID of a wireless tag held by thephotographic target, and the moving body when an imaging requestdesignating the photographic target is received from a user terminal toidentify a wireless tag ID and the moving body corresponding to thedesignated photographic target and to transmit an imaging instructiondesignating the identified wireless tag to the identified moving body;the moving body acquiring, from at least one wireless tag reader, aradio field intensity of wireless communication with the wireless tagstoring the wireless tag ID designated by the imaging instruction whenthe imaging instruction is received from the management server toestimate a position of the photographic target based on the acquiredradio field intensity; the moving body moving to the estimated positionas a destination; the moving body taking an image of the photographictarget when the moving body is located near the destination, associatingthe photographic image with the wireless tag ID designated by theimaging instruction, and transmitting the photographic image and thewireless tag ID to the management server; the management serverassociating and storing the wireless tag ID and the photographic imagewhen the wireless tag ID and the photographic image are received fromthe moving body; and the management server referring to the table whenan image acquisition request designating the photographic target isreceived from the user terminal to identify the wireless tag IDcorresponding to the designated photographic target, to read out theimage corresponding to the identified wireless tag ID, and to transmitthe image to the user terminal that has transmitted the imageacquisition request.

CPUs included in the management server and the moving body can implementcorresponding processes of the imaging control method of the presentdisclosure. Programs for the implementation can be installed or loadedthrough various media such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductormemory, and a communication network.

The units in the present specification include units realized byhardware, units realized by software, and units realized using hardwareand software. Two or more pieces of hardware may be used to realize oneunit, or one piece of hardware may realize two or more units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of animaging system 1 of the present embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of amanagement server 11 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of themanagement server 11 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of data configuration of acorrespondence table 41 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of data configuration of animage storage unit 44 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a movingbody 13 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of aninformation processing unit 24 according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart explaining a framework realized using the imagingsystem 1 according to the present embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart explaining a framework realized using the imagingsystem 1 according to the present embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment for implementing the present disclosure will nowbe described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment,a system will be described as an example of an application for applyinga framework of the present disclosure. The system can take images of achild at kindergarten and provide the photographed images to a concernedparty (such as a parent of the child who is a photographic target) in aremote place.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of animaging system as an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 1, an imaging system 1 includes a user terminal 10, a managementserver 11, an access point 12, an autonomously movable moving body 13,etc. The moving body 13 includes at least one wireless tag reader 21, animaging unit 22, etc.

The user terminal 10 and the management server 11 can communicatethrough a communication network 40 such as the Internet. The managementserver 11 and the moving body 13 are configured to be able tocommunicate through the communication network 40 and a wirelesscommunication network 50.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates one user terminal 10, management server 11,access point 12, and moving body 13, a plurality of components can bearranged depending on the design.

The imaging system 1 implements a framework in which a photographictarget 100 holds a wireless tag 30 readable by the wireless tag reader21, the wireless tag reader 21 reads tag information of the wireless tag30 to estimate the position of the photographic target 100 as a target,the moving body 13 moves close to the target, an imaging unit 22 takesimages of the target, and the photographed images are provided to theuser (such as a parent of a child who is the photographic target).

The wireless tag 30 is configured in the same way as a conventionalwireless tag. The wireless tag 30 stores identification information(wireless tag ID) of itself in an internal memory. When the power of asignal transmitted from the wireless tag reader 21 is greater than apredetermined value, the power is supplied by the signal to activate thewireless tag 30, and the wireless tag 30 transmits tag informationincluding the wireless tag ID stored in the memory. The wireless tag 30can be attached to, for example, a name card, a badge, and a belt forthe photographic target to carry.

The user terminal 10 includes an input/output apparatus and is capableof receiving input from the user who uses the imaging system 1 andoutputting image information, etc., to the user. A general personalcomputer or mobile terminal can be used as the user terminal 10. Theuser terminal 10 may be arranged as a device inside the imaging system 1or as a device outside the imaging system 1.

The management server 11 has functions such as a remote monitoringfunction for instructing the moving body 13 to take images of thephotographic target 100 in response to a request from the user terminal10 and providing photographic images obtained from the moving body 13 tothe user terminal 10.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of themanagement server 11. As shown in FIG. 2A, the management server 11 canbe constituted by a general-purpose computer comprising hardware such asa CPU, a memory (ROM or RAM), an HDD, a user interface, a display, and acommunication interface.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of themanagement server 11. As shown in FIG. 2B, the management server 11includes functional means, such as a correspondence table 41, an imaginginstructing unit 42, an image providing unit 43, and an image storageunit 44, to realize the remote monitoring function. However, themanagement server 11 can be configured to access the correspondencetable 41 and the image storage unit 44 directly or indirectly, andalthough configured as part of the management server 11 in FIG. 2B, thecorrespondence table 41 and the image storage unit 44 may be under thecontrol of another information process apparatus (such as a databaseserver).

Although not shown, the management server 11 has functions included in anormal Web server, such as a function of communicating with the userterminal 10 and the access point 12 through the communication network40. Known techniques are used to realize the functions.

The correspondence table 41 stores a correspondence relationship betweenidentification information of the photographic target 100 (such as nameand registration number), a wireless tag ID of the wireless tag 30 heldby the photographic target 100, and information (such as IP address) ofthe moving body 13 allocated to the photographic target 100 (and thewireless tag 30 held by the photographic target 100, see FIG. 3A).Arranging the correspondence table 41 and managing the correspondencerelationship this way facilitate adding or changing the photographictarget 100, the wireless tag 30, and the moving body 13.

The operator, etc., of the imaging system 1 can register the data inadvance in the correspondence table 41. Although the photographic target100 and the wireless tag 30 (wireless tag ID) are associated one to one,a plurality of photographic targets 100 (wireless tags 30 and wirelesstag IDs) may be associated with the moving body 13. A conventionaldatabase technique, such as a relational database, can be used to managethe data in the correspondence table 41.

When an imaging request designating the photographic target is receivedfrom the user terminal 10, the imaging instructing unit 42 refers to thecorrespondence table 41 to identify the wireless tag ID and the movingbody 13 corresponding to the designated photographic target 100 andtransmits an imaging instruction designating the identified wireless tagID (hereinafter, called “target ID) to the identified moving body 13.

When the wireless tag ID and a photographic image are received from themoving body 13, the image providing unit 43 associates and stores thewireless tag ID and the photographic image in the image storage unit 44.When an image acquisition request designating the photographic target isreceived from the user terminal 10, the image providing unit 43 refersto the correspondence table 41, identifies the wireless tag IDcorresponding to the designated photographic target, reads out the imagecorresponding to the identified wireless tag ID from the image storageunit 44, and transmits the image to the user terminal 10 that hastransmitted the image acquisition request.

The image storage unit 44 associates the image taken by the moving body13 with the wireless tag ID and stores them (see FIG. 3B). Aconventional database technique, such as a relational database, can beused to manage the data in the image storage unit 44.

The access point 12 is equipment for connecting the communicationnetwork 40 and the wireless communication network 50 and is realizedusing a known access point device.

The moving body 13 is an autonomously movable moving body.

The moving body 13 includes a moving mechanism 20, at least one wirelesstag reader 21, the imaging unit 22, a communication unit 23, aninformation processing unit 24, etc. (see FIG. 4A). The moving body 13may include, for example, various sensors other than the units 20 to 24,and as with the functions included in a conventional autonomouslymovable moving body, may have various functions such as using values ofvarious sensors to avoid an obstacle.

The moving mechanism 20 is configured in the same way as a movingmechanism included in a conventional autonomously movable moving body,and the type, such as a bipedal moving mechanism and a wheeled movingmechanism, can be appropriately adopted according to the environment inwhich the moving body 13 is arranged. A known technique can be used torealize the moving mechanism 20.

The wireless tag reader 21 has the same functions as a normal wirelesstag reader, such as a reading function of tag information of thewireless tag 30. A known wireless tag reader can be used to realize thewireless tag reader 21.

The imaging unit 22 has functions of taking still images and movingimages (including various functions such as zooming, auto focusing, andchanging the imaging direction), a function of transmitting the stillimages and moving images to the management server 11 through thecommunication unit 23, and other functions. A known network camera canbe used to realize the imaging unit 22.

The communication unit 23 has a function of transmitting and receivingdata through the wireless communication network 50. A knowncommunication apparatus (such as a wireless communication apparatuscompliant with IEEE 802.11b standard) can be used to realize thecommunication unit 23.

The information processing unit 24 has hardware, such as a CPU, a memory(ROM or RAM), an HDD, etc., and includes a position estimating unit 25,a movement control unit 26, an imaging control unit 27, etc., asfunctional means realized by the CPU executing programs stored in thememory (see FIG. 4B).

When an imaging instruction transmitted from the management server 11 isreceived, the position estimating unit 25 acquires, from the wirelesstag reader 21, a signal, such as radio field intensity, of wirelesscommunication with a wireless tag storing the target ID designated bythe imaging instruction and estimates the position of the photographictarget 100 based on the acquired radio field intensity.

The movement control unit 26 controls the movement of the moving body 13(controls the moving mechanism 20) so that, for example, the moving body13 moves to the position of the photographic target 100 estimated by theposition estimating unit 25 as the destination or that the moving body13 is within a certain distance from the position of the photographictarget 100.

The imaging control unit 27 controls the imaging unit 22 to take animage of the photographic target 100 when the moving body 13 is locatednear the destination, associate the photographic image with the targetID, and transmit the photographic image and the target ID to themanagement server 11.

The framework of the remote monitoring realized using the imaging system1 will now be described based on flow charts shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Theorder of steps (including partial steps not provided with symbols) canbe arbitrarily changed, or the steps can be executed in parallel withoutcontradicting the content of processing.

First, the user terminal 10 transmits an imaging request designatingidentification information of the photographic target 100 (for example,a child of the user) to the management server 11 based on an operationof the user (S100). Such an operation of the user can be performed oncondition that the authentication is successful so that the user is anauthorized user permitted to use the imaging system 1.

The imaging instructing unit 42 of the management server 11 waits toreceive an imaging request to be transmitted from the user terminal 10(S101). When the imaging request is received (S101: Yes), the imaginginstructing unit 42 refers to the correspondence table 41, identifiesthe wireless tag ID (target ID) and the moving body 13 corresponding tothe designated photographic target 100, and transmits an imaginginstruction command designating the target ID to the identified movingbody 13 through the communication network 40 and the wirelesscommunication network 50 (S102). After the transmission of the imaginginstruction command, the management server 11 can transmit an imagingcancel command to the moving body 13 in response to, for example, arequest from the user.

The moving body 13 waits to receive an imaging instruction command fromthe management server 11 (S103), and when the imaging instructioncommand is received through the communication unit 23 (S103: Yes), themoving body 13 switches to a mode (search mode) for searching thephotographic target 100 (S104). The search mode ends in cases such aswhen an imaging cancel command is received from the management server11, and then the moving body 13 returns to S103.

In the search mode, if the destination is not set, the movement controlunit 26 controls the moving mechanism 20 to make the moving body 13 moveat random or in accordance with a predetermined route within an areadefined in advance as a range where the photographic target 100 exists(for example, in a classroom of kindergarten). If the destination isset, the movement control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 20 tomake the moving body 13 move close to the destination (for example,within a certain distance (such as 1 m) from the destination).

The movement control unit 26 then determines whether the moving body 13has arrived near the destination (S105), and if arrived, the processproceeds to S113.

On the other hand, if the moving body 13 has not arrived near thedestination, the wireless tag reader 21 included in the moving body 13determines whether tag information can be received from the wireless tag30 by wireless communication (S106). If the tag information cannot bereceived, the process returns to S104, and the search mode continues.

If the tag information can be received, the wireless tag reader 21determines whether the received tag information includes the target ID(S107). If the target ID is not included, the process returns to S104,and the search mode continues.

If the tag information includes the target ID, the wireless tag reader21 stores, in the memory, the radio field intensity of the wirelesscommunication when the tag information is received (S108).

The position estimating unit 25 acquires the radio field intensity(radio field intensity of wireless communication with the wireless tagstoring the target ID) stored in the memory by the wireless tag reader21 (S109) and estimates the position of the photographic target 100based on the acquired radio field intensity (S110).

An example of the position estimation method includes a method ofestimating that the photographic target 100 is located in the directionthat the radio field intensity is larger.

If, for example, the wireless tag reader 21 can wirelessly communicatewith the wireless tag 30 storing the target ID at a plurality oflocations within a certain period, the position of the photographictarget can be estimated in the following way.

The radio field intensity of wireless communication with the wirelesstag 30 is converted into a distance, and a circular area of the distanceis set around the position of the wireless tag reader 21 that hasperformed the wireless communication in a coordinate system with apredetermined reference position as the origin. If wirelesscommunications with the wireless tag 30 can be performed at a pluralityof locations, a plurality of circular areas can be set, and thephotographic target 100 can be estimated to be in an overlapping area ofthe plurality of circular areas. If the overlapping area is greater thana certain area, the photographic target 100 may be estimated to be atthe center or center of gravity of the overlapping area. In this way,the wireless tag reader does not have to be set in advance in an area inthe method in which, using the wireless tag reader 21 included in themoving body 13, the moving body 13 performs wireless communications at aplurality of locations while moving and estimates the position of thephotographic target 100. Therefore, the method can also be implementedoutdoors, etc.

If wireless communications with the wireless tag 30 storing the targetID cannot be performed at a plurality of locations within a certainperiod, or if the position of the photographic target 100 cannot beestimated due to a reason such as the radio field intensity is smalleven though the wireless communications can be performed (S111: No), theprocess returns to S104, and the search mode continues.

If the position of the photographic target 100 can be estimated (S111:Yes), the movement control unit 26 sets the estimated position of thephotographic target 100 as the destination (S112). The process returnsto S104, and the search mode continues.

On the other hand, if the moving body 13 has reached near thedestination, the imaging control unit 27 controls the imaging unit 22 totake an image in the direction of the position of the photographictarget 100, associate the image obtained by photographing with thetarget ID, and transmit the image and the target ID to the managementserver 11 (S113). The photographic images may be still images or movingimages.

The imaging control unit 27 may use a known image recognition techniqueto control the imaging direction of the imaging unit 22. For example,face images and features of the photographic target 100 are stored inthe memory included in the moving body 13, and a known image recognitiontechnique is used to recognize the photographic target 100 based on thephotographic image and the stored face images or features of thephotographic target 100. If the photographic target 100 can berecognized, the imaging direction of the imaging unit 22 is controlledto arrange the photographic target 100 at the center of the image. Inthe image recognition, the privacy of persons other than the target maybe secured using the image recognition result to mosaic the part of theimage of the persons other than the photographic target 100 as a target.

The movement control unit 26 may use the information of the radio fieldintensity of wireless communication with the wireless tag storing thetarget ID to control the distance to the photographic target 100 whenthe imaging unit 22 takes images. For example, the movement control unit26 controls the moving mechanism 20 so that the radio field intensity ofwireless communication with the wireless tag storing the target IDbecomes a predetermined value (for example, about 1 m in distance).

The simultaneous control of the imaging direction by use of the imagerecognition technique and control of the distance to the photographictarget 100 by use of the radio field intensity allow taking images ofthe photographic target 100 so that the size and the position in theimages are always constant.

The imaging control unit 27 controls the imaging unit 22 to take imagesfor a certain number of times or throughout a certain period, forexample. When imaging is finished, the moving body 13 returns to S103.

After the transmission of the imaging instruction command, the imageproviding unit 43 of the management server 11 waits to receive thetarget ID and the photographic image transmitted from the moving body 13identified by the imaging instructing unit 42 (S114). When the target IDand the photographic image are received, the image providing unit 43associates and stores the target ID and the photographic image in theimage storage unit 44 (S115).

Meanwhile, the user terminal 10 transmits the image acquisition requestdesignating the identification information of the photographic target100 (for example, child of the user) to the management server 11 basedon the operation of the user (S116).

The image providing unit 43 of the management server 11 waits to receivethe image acquisition request designating the photographic target 100transmitted from the user terminal 10 (S117). When the image acquisitionrequest is received, the image providing unit 43 refers to thecorrespondence table 41, identifies the wireless tag ID corresponding tothe designated photographic target 100, reads out the photographic imagecorresponding to the identified wireless tag ID from the image storageunit 44, and transmits the photographic image to the user terminal 10that has transmitted the image acquisition request (S118).

This allows the user terminal 10 to receive the image of thephotographic target 100 designated by the imaging request (S119), andthe user can see the received image in the user terminal 10.

As described, in the imaging system 1, the moving body 13 including thewireless tag reader 21 and the imaging unit 22 uses the wirelesscommunication with the wireless tag 30 held by the photographic target100 in response to the imaging request from the user terminal 10 toestimate the position of the photographic target 100, moves close to thephotographic target 100 to take an image of the photographic target 100,and provides the photographic image to the user terminal 10. Therefore,according to the imaging system 1, there is no need to arrange aplurality of network cameras to provide photographic images of thephotographic target 100, and the moving photographic target 100 can beflexibly followed and photographed.

Especially, the moving body 13 moves close to the photographic target100 to take an image so that the photographic target 100 can be zoomedand photographed from appropriate position and angle. Therefore,flexible photographing is possible in consideration of privacy, such asby taking images without including persons other than the photographictarget 100.

The present disclosure should not be limited to the embodiment, andthose skilled in the art can make various changes, additions, andomissions without departing from the concept and scope expressed by theclaims.

For example, although an example of the photographic target 100 is achild at kindergarten in the description of the embodiment, a senior ina care facility, etc., may be the photographic target in an applicationof the present disclosure. Not only persons, but also animals, such aspets, or portable tools may be the photographic target in an applicationof the present disclosure.

Furthermore, for example, although the Internet, etc., is illustrated asan example of the communication network 40 in the embodiment, thecommunication network 40 may be any of a LAN, the Internet, a dedicatedline, a packet communication network, and a combination of those and mayinclude both wired and wireless networks. A wired communication networkmay be used instead of the wireless communication network 50, and inthat case, various networks can be adopted as in the communicationnetwork 40.

Furthermore, for example, although the name and the registration numberare illustrated as examples of the identification information of thephotographic target 100 in the embodiment, the wireless tag ID of thewireless tag held by the photographic target may be used as theidentification information of the photographic target 100.

Furthermore, for example, although the management server 11 transmits animaging instruction command to the moving body 13 when an imagingrequest is received from the user terminal 10 in the embodiment, thepresent disclosure is not limited to such a configuration. For example,if the moving body 13 can wirelessly communicate with a specificwireless tag 30 at more than a certain radio field intensity duringcirculation or in the search mode, the moving body 13 may estimate theposition of the holder of the specific wireless tag 30 in the same wayas in the embodiment and move close to the position of the holder totake images of the holder. Alternatively, the moving body 13 may takeimages of the holder if the holder is located near the moving body 13 sothat the movement is not necessary. The photographed images areassociated with the wireless tag ID of the specific wireless tag 30 andtransmitted to the management server 11, and the management server 11stores them in the image storage unit 44. If an imaging request isreceived from the user as in the embodiment, whether the correspondingimage of the photographic target is stored in the image storage unit 44is checked. If the corresponding image photographed within, for example,a certain time (for example, within three minutes) is stored, thecorresponding image is read out and provided to the user. According tothe configuration, the photographic images can be quickly providedcompared to when the images are taken after an imaging request isreceived.

Furthermore, for example, although the embodiment has described a methodof using the wireless tag reader 21 included in the moving body 13 andestimating the position of the photographic target 100 when wirelesscommunications with the wireless tag including the target ID can beperformed at a plurality of locations within a certain period, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the configuration. For example, themoving body 13 may include a plurality of wireless tag readers.According to the configuration, the position of the photographic targetcan be estimated when a plurality of wireless tag readers can performwireless communications even if the moving body 13 remains at onelocation. Alternatively, one or more wireless tag readers are set inadvance at a fixed location in an area defined as a range where thephotographic target 100 exits, and when the wireless tag reader at thefixed location can perform wireless communication with the wireless tagincluding the target ID, the radio field intensity of the wirelesscommunication is transmitted to the position estimating unit 25.According to the configuration, the position estimating unit 25 can useradio field intensity information acquired from the wireless tag readerset at the fixed location to estimate the position of the photographictarget even if the wireless tag reader 21 cannot wirelessly communicatewith the wireless tag including the target ID at the plurality oflocations within the certain period. Therefore, the position of thephotographic target can be quickly and accurately estimated. The movingbody 13 may not include the wireless tag reader 21 if a wireless tagreader is installed at a fixed location.

Furthermore, for example, although the management server 11 stores thephotographic images and provides the images to the user in theembodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to the configuration.For example, if the information processing unit 24 of the moving body 13has a function of a Web server, the photographic images may be stored inthe moving body 13 and the moving body 13 may directly receive an imageacquisition request from the user terminal 10 to provide thephotographic images. In that case, the imaging unit 22 may convert themoving images to video signals of NTSC-J, etc., for streamingdistribution.

Furthermore, for example, information (such as name of kindergarten) ofan area defined as a range where the photographic target 100 exists maybe associated with the identification information of the photographictarget 100, etc., and stored in the correspondence table 41. In thatcase, the user can designate a photographic target 100 and a target areato transmit an imaging request.

What is claimed is:
 1. An imaging system comprising: a managementserver, wherein the management server stores a table indicating acorrespondence between one or more wireless tag IDs, one or morephotographic targets, and a plurality of single movable bodies, whereineach single movable body is assigned to monitor at least one of the oneor more photographic targets prior to receiving an imaging request; anda single movable body of the plurality of single movable bodies capableof moving in one or more dimensions configured to communicate with themanagement server, wherein the management server comprises: an imaginginstruction unit configured to: refer to the table when the imagingrequest designating a photographic target is received from a userterminal; identify the one or more wireless tag IDs corresponding to thephotographic target; identify the single movable body assigned to thephotographic target using identification information corresponding tothe photographic target; and transmit the one or more wireless tag IDsto the single movable body; and an image providing unit configured toassociate and store the one or more wireless tag IDs and an image of thephotographic target received from the single movable body; wherein thesingle movable body comprises: at least one wireless tag readerconfigured to read a wireless tag ID from a wireless tag throughwireless communication; a position estimating unit configured toestimate a position of the photographic target based on a radio fieldintensity of wireless communication with the wireless tag having thewireless tag ID of the photographic target; an imaging unit configuredto take the image of the photographic target; and a movement controlunit configured to control movement of the single movable body in one ormore dimensions based on inputs from the position estimating unit. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more wireless tag IDscorrespond to a unique photographic target.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the one or more single movable bodies is assigned to monitor thephotographic target.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the imageproviding unit is configured to store the image on at least one of thesingle movable body, the management server, or a remote computingdevice.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the movement control unit isconfigured to identify a location and position for the single movablebody to image the photographic target responsive to image analysis ofthe image.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the movement control unitis configured to move the single movable body to a particular locationbased on a corresponding point identified in the image.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the movement control unit is configured to move thesingle movable body at random or in accordance with a predeterminedroute when a destination is not set.
 8. The system of claim 1, whereinthe movement control unit is configured to move the single movable bodyto an estimated position of the photographic target based on the radiofield intensity.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the imaginginstruction unit is configured to identify that at least one of the oneor more photographic targets has a pre-determined relationship to thesingle movable body.
 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising animaging control unit communicatively coupled to the imaging unit,wherein the imaging control unit is configured to control a direction ofthe imaging unit based on an image analysis of a previous image.
 11. Animaging method comprising: receiving, by a management device, an imagingrequest designating a photographic target is received from a userterminal; identifying, by the management device, one or more wirelesstag IDs corresponding to the photographic target in a table, wherein thetable comprises a correspondence between the one or more wireless tagIDs, one or more photographic targets and a plurality of single movablebodies, wherein each single movable body is assigned to monitor at leastone of the one or more photographic targets prior to receiving theimaging request; identifying, by the management device, a single movablebody of the plurality of single movable bodies, assigned to thephotographic target, using identification information corresponding tothe photographic target; transmitting, by the management device, the oneor more wireless tag IDs to the single movable body; reading, by thesingle movable body, a wireless tag ID from a wireless tag throughwireless communication; estimating, by the single movable body, aposition of the photographic target based on a radio field intensity ofwireless communication with the wireless tag having the wireless tag IDof the photographic target; moving, by a movement control unit executingon the single movable body, the single movable body in one or moredimensions based on inputs from the position estimating unit; imaging,by the single movable body, the photographic target; associating, by themanagement device, the one or more wireless tag IDs and the imagereceived from the single movable body; and storing, by the managementdevice, the one or more wireless tag IDs and the image received from thesingle movable body.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein eachof the one or more wireless tag IDs correspond to a unique photographictarget.
 13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the one or moresingle movable bodies is assigned to monitor the photographic target.14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising storing, by themanagement device, the image on at least one of: the single movablebody, the management device, or a remote computing device.
 15. Themethod according to claim 11, further comprising moving, by the movementcontrol unit, the single movable body responsive to image analysis ofthe image.
 16. The method according to claim 11, further comprisingmoving, by the movement control unit, the single movable body to aparticular location based on a corresponding point identified in theimage.
 17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising moving,by the movement control unit, the single movable body at random or inaccordance with a predetermined route when a destination is not set. 18.The method according to claim 11, further comprising moving, by themovement control unit, the single movable body to an estimated positionof the photographic target based on the radio field intensity.
 19. Themethod according to claim 11, further comprising identifying, by themanagement device, that at least one of the one or more photographictargets has a pre-determined relationship to the single movable body.20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising controlling, byan imaging control unit communicatively coupled to the imaging unit, adirection of the imaging unit based on an image analysis of a previousimage.